Thanks for this RR. I raced V2R last year as an ironman, and these incredible pics and vids are a great look back at the course. Strangely I could not remember much of the course after the race (maybe I blocked it out!), so the pics really bring it all back.

Thanks for this RR. I raced V2R last year as an ironman, and these incredible pics and vids are a great look back at the course. Strangely I could not remember much of the course after the race (maybe I blocked it out!), so the pics really bring it all back.

hey zack05,
I'm so happy you enjoyed the report!
Wow, ironman - no wonder you didn't remember much of the course!

V2R is such a fast course, and Scott said it had been seriously dry and silty in August...
bet it was all just a huge DUSTY blur for you...
glad to bring back some memories -
Congrats on ironmanning it!

The only bad thing about this weekend was losing my favorite riding sweater. JustPaul calls it my “grandma sweater.” But I loved that thing! I got it at Goodwill for less than a dollar.It’s been on every ride since 2008 and was the best mid layer, ever.

(oregon, 2010. on the TAT)

sorry to hear about your grandma sweater. Maybe Klim can hook you up with something like the windbreaker they sell

Thanks for another great RR. I got to the party late this time but it was still a great read..

I’m not bashing but I just have to know… how does the Honda do with Adventures in the bed and pulling a trailer. You are the only people I have ever seen use that thing as a utility vehicle and I love it!

Hopefully NSFW is having a great time in Baja right now...
and will be doing a ride report when he gets back (right, Joel? )

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmaxmike

I’m not bashing but I just have to know… how does the Honda do with Adventures in the bed and pulling a trailer. You are the only people I have ever seen use that thing as a utility vehicle and I love it!

Great ride report as always!

Good question, dmaxmike!

haha, I know - it's only "truck-ish"
but the Ridgeline does surprisingly well.

Obviously it's not as capable as Radek's massive 2500HD and could never pull a loaded car trailer,but the Honda is perfect for us.
We live in a city apartment and have no offstreet parking so a big truck is out of the question.
Matt can parallel park the Honda in pretty tight spots.

I know the bed can take a 990 and a smaller bike (like an XR650), but two 990s is pretty tight.
When we did the Baja Wan-Thousand, we had one 990 in the back and a 990 and 950SE in the trailer.
And we had all kinds of luggage and gear for 4 adults.
It handled the load just fine, even up and down the Grapevine (a long 6% grade between N and S california).
I think we were all pretty comfortable, too.
With heated leather seats, it's almost as plush as our last car!

We got around 15 mpg on that trip.
Not great mileage, but not bad.
Just drove across the country (2500 miles) and got 21 mpg (no trailer).

When we were at Scott's house, Ceasar (KTMADV) said it had won all kinds of "truck of the year" awards -
I think he did more research on the Ridgeline than we did!
Googling around, I see it also did really well in crash tests and won the Baja 1000 stock mini class in 2008 and 2010.
So far, we're totally happy with it.
It's a decent car/truck blend.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Paul

sorry to hear about your grandma sweater. Maybe Klim can hook you up with something like the windbreaker they sell

Aww, unfortunately Klim cannot compete with the perfection that was my grandma sweater...
It was 70% silk, 30% cotton and 100% wonderful.
I have an old cashmere sweater (also Goodwill!!) that might make a mediocre replacement.
We'll see...

Thanks for the rr. I can't get over all the pics. Up here in Ak we don't get a lot of desert riding it looks like fun. Some day I would love love love to ride through. Thanks again for all the great pics....http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/clap.gif

Going to Lake Pillsbury this weekend for the first time with Bartek. Wish you and kelly were going. My bike is still down from the last ride we did. Looks like I will be taking the front rim off the 950.